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Friday, August 29, 2014

Who Was Kajieme Powell?

Friday: St. Louis Post-Dispatch finally with editorial on the shooting. It's sort of wide-angle, asks some okay questions but tries hard not to take a stand. The claim that Powell was coming at them "fast" is just wrong. It's a lengthy take and sensitive--to a point. Yes, police are taught to shoot within 21 feet, but that's the distance accepted if they have not yet drawn their guns. Not the case here.

Thanks to some of the media coverage, the overwhelming focus on the Michael Brown slaying, and skillful spin by the local authorities, the Powell case quickly faded. Perhaps that may change if anything comes a Missouri state senator's request yesterday for a federal probe of the episode and police procedures. More on that here.

What's perhaps most remarkable has been the lack of details that have emerged about Powell's life, beyond the fact that he once lived in New York, and that he has been living with his grandmother. When his mother spoke to the press, slamming the police and "oppression" of blacks, only RT (the Russian propaganda channel) covered it briefly. "My son was tired of that oppression," she said.

Many have suggested he suffered from mental illness, with no evidence beyond his actions on the fateful day and shouting at the cops, "shoot me!" Others have claimed that he may have had a political agenda, offering himself as a "martyr" to the cause of exposing police brutality. I should note: at this late, we still have not been told the names of the two police shooters. On the police incident report they are only listed as "victims."

I've checked Google News and blogs and social media every few hours now for the past week and been amazed that so little has come out about Powell's background--please let me know what I've missed. But today I got a seemingly important tip.

Someone named "tadams0620
" left a comment at my most recent posting on Powell. It indicates that he or she found Powell's Facebook page--under his (perhaps) real name Antoine Powell. We all know how many times people have IDed falsely someone involved in a high-profile case on Facebook or Twitter. However, in this case, the ID appears likely true. The photo (above) looks like Powell in the videos; the bio has him living in New York and St. Louis and being a fan of St. Louis sports teams. He has friends in both places.

I have since searched "Antoine Powell" at Twitter and found two people, on the day after he died, revealing that he was their cousin, he had just died (one specifically said at the hands of police)--and his name was Antoine. I've contacted them and hope they respond. One had tweeted, "Rest In Peace to my cousin Kajieme Antoine Powell he was killed yesterday in St. Louis by a police officer."

Powell posted little at Facebook but among his favorites are several blazing lion images, one of which also shows up at the only Twitter feed, which goes back awhile, for a Kajieme Powell (his handle including "89," the year he was born). One of them he titles "Lion of Judah," which, of course, is a biblical reference, and also applied by Rastafari to Haile Selassie and embraced by black Israelites. But more revealing you have his most recent posting and comments at Facebook, which were followed by one from a friend, Toy Toy Wright, who wrote on August 21: "R.I.P.
Kajieme. I will always remember the good conversations we had about
religion, politics, injustices past 'n present. I always thought U had a
good grasp on whats going on to be so young. I always believed that u
would go into politics. Sleep in peace brother."

And what was she reponding to? He had written on July 16 under an illustration of cartoon characters he had just posted as his new cover photo: "I
want a Lawsuit Damn It!!!!!!!! All of the characters in this photo are
hederal sexual!!!!! Especially the Mighty Wind!!!!!!!! That's That!!!!
Racist!" Later: "Ecclesiastes 7:7 Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad." On August 9: The
'illuminati' is trying to steal my work, kill me or imprison me, and
take my credit and profit off my genius...No! I don't think so." And the same day:

Until I get this Lawsuit I will not comply with Law Enforcement. That's That! *Isaiah 54:17* *Psalm 23:4* *Proverbs 28:26*

Then he again goes silent.

I have not confirmed that this is indeed Kajieme Powell but it sure sounds suggestive and very likely. I'll keep probing and update ASAP.

Update: See comment below from a Rose M, who is quite certain the Facebook page is his, and excerpt here:

What I found interesting is some earlier posts on the Antoine Powell
page. In some of them he references the 14th amendment, and also that
people are watching him and recording him on their cell phones. He also
says the Illuminati are after him, and also earlier he had posted many
links to YouTube videos about microchip implantation and other
conspiracies. He, or that Facebook user, seemed increasingly suspicious
and a bit paranoid. If the reports of him being mentally ill are true,
posts like that might not be surprising. There were very few comments
from friends on his page; majority of the comments and likes to statuses
were from himself.

It makes this case even more sad; he was
mentally ill, scared, alone, and suffered a horrible and unnecessary
death. Every day I feel more sympathy for this person, and wish there
could have been another, better resolution to this tragedy. It did not
have to happen like this.

is author of a dozen books (click on covers at right), including the new "THE TUNNELS: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill." He was the longtime editor of Editor & Publisher. Email: epic1934@aol.com. Twitter: @GregMitch

Thank you very much for posting this! I am very interested in this case and have also been scouring the media for information, to pretty much no avail. I am very shocked and disappointed at the lack of information about this case that's out there...

I too have been following this closely, and have wondered his state of mind. I also came across his Facebook page under Antoine Powell, and do believe it is his Facebook page for a few reasons. He has (or until recently had) a Facebook profile - in the released shooting video, you can hear him say that he is on Facebook and Instagram. There was a mention of the Antoine profile in a RIP page set up to memorialize him on Facebook. That site has several photos of him that are the same ones on the Antoine Facebook page. His picture from the shooting video is the same person as the profile pic from the Antoine page.

What I found interesting is some earlier posts on the Antoine Powell page. In some of them he references the 14th amendment, and also that people are watching him and recording him on their cell phones. He also says the Illuminati are after him, and also earlier he had posted many links to YouTube videos about microchip implantation and other conspiracies. He, or that Facebook user, seemed increasingly suspicious and a bit paranoid. If the reports of him being mentally ill are true, posts like that might not be surprising. There were very few comments from friends on his page; majority of the comments and likes to statuses were from himself.

It makes this case even more sad; he was mentally ill, scared, alone, and suffered a horrible and unnecessary death. Every day I feel more sympathy for this person, and wish there could have been another, better resolution to this tragedy. It did not have to happen like this.

Last year when he was killed, I was very upset and looked around for information on who he was or what might have been wrong with him. No-one seemed interested--I found nothing. But I've never forgotten him and I was thinking about him tonight and came across this. Glad to know others were thinking about him too. Lives of people with mental illnesses matter too.

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is author of a dozen books (click on covers at right), including the new "THE TUNNELS: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill." He was the longtime editor of Editor & Publisher. Email: epic1934@aol.com. Twitter: @GregMitch